I have the Hikaru and Focker non-transforming releases. If you could get them 10 years ago at MSRP(this was before Macross stuff shot up on the secondary market and before Kaiyodo bumped the scale and price up), they’re fun for what they are. I liked that they came with a stand and could pose in ways that no other VF-1 could. Some of the Revolver joints on it are small and some have loosened up on mine. The largely PVC construction(softer than I’d like) won’t appeal to everyone. However it’s telling that the Yamato GNU Do line, which is like the polar opposite to Revoltech Valkyries, used mostly ABS, emphasized sculpt and full articulation yet didn’t last long.
Thank you kindly for your replies (RE: Revoltech). When I first got my 2, I opened Max's box and attempted transforming...I gave up and managed to get it back to fighter and put it right back, where it's stayed ever since Considering what you've said here, I don't think I'll bother going for any more.
I love the chunky monkey so much I can't collect anything else. I tried. Fingers crossed for a stateside release of the Bandai 1/55 Valkyries.
My point is the price has been driven up by people willing to pay those crazy prices, not because of the actual cost of the product but because people willing to pay for it. And it will only go up if people keep paying more and more, cause people are willing to keep paying more and more. I'm actually curious as to where the point is that people would stop paying these prices. 160 for just those few hollow plastic pieces of armour..., that's not crazy? You know it's crazy, if you don't wanna see it than that's something else. Edit: they'd still make a boatload of profit if the vf and armour together sold for 160. Shit, they'd make even more at that price and made 10x the amount they're making right now. For that price point others interested in macross but not willing to pay out their ass would also buy it. I know there's way more people interested in macross but not getting into it because it's overpriced as shit.
Seriously bro, just stop. Please. No one here agrees with you or will be swayed by your posts. You have no understanding of value, capitalism or what it costs to actually produce these products. If they're so over priced start a business making Macross toys and become a multi millionaire. If you're right in your argument there is a massive opportunity to get rich.
So the first Macross "toy" to be advertised on BBTS since the whole HG/Big West announcement? Macross V.F.G. VF-25G Super Messiah Klan Klang Model Kit
It’s a start! And it does actually say “Macross” in the listing...if nothing else, I’d call it a psychological win. Plus, you know, titties!
Ultimately there is a market and there is demand. The prices can be high depending on which item you’re getting but relative to other collector toylines, sometimes what you’re paying for in a Macross line isn’t something you’re getting anywhere else. Arcadia and Bandai have other companies beat when it comes to a transforming jet robot with no extraneous robot parts in jet mode. The YF-19 is a hard design to get right but both companies managed to pull it off. Could things be better? Hell yea they could and everyone would love to pay less for this stuff. However you have time fighting against you. The prices you’re asking for simply aren’t what Macross toys have been for almost 2 decades. However you’ll be hard pressed to find another company making Macross toys better than Arcadia and Bandai and for cheaper. As promising as KitzConcept seemed, they’re still reliant on incorporating what worked on previous Japanese Macross toys and their prices went up too. My cutoff point is near $300 for a Valkyrie sans armor. So I passed on Arcadia valkyries aside from the VF-4 and VF-1. However Bandai made a lot of valkyries for under that price so I still had plenty of toys to choose from. From 2008-2012 you could almost count on seeing Yamato Macross toys on sale on a regular basis well under MSRP. You could wait and whatever you wanted would probably go on sale again. Did that mean everything sold quickly? Not at all. Did it play a part in Yamato going out of business? Don’t know but it’s possible. Sale prices back then are exactly in the price range you listed it but they weren’t flying off shelves. Some of those prices would seem impossible or miraculous today. $30 FAST packs? Kakizaki VF-1A for less than $60? People paid way more for those Yamato VF-1 FAST packs in the aftermarket and Arcadia still hasn’t rereleased those FAST packs separately. The cost of entry could be high when it comes to Macross toys but doesn’t seem so high when it comes to other collector toylines. And you’re not going to get cleaner, realistic transformable jets with fully articulated robot modes in any other lines by any other company. There’s enough demand however, to guarantee that if you’re not willing to pay that cost, someone else definitely is, especially on a Bandai Valkyrie preorder night. I dunno man, you might be happier stalking the secondary market stores like Mandarake or Jungle and looking for Macross toys listed as storefront items. These days sometimes you can still find some for a more appealing price but shipping might be high.
The way I look at it, I may spend a bunch on just one of these figures, but I feel like I’m getting a perfect toy version of the character. DX Roy and his FAST parts cost a big chunk...but I’ll never need to buy another Roy VF-1 as long as I live (I don’t think...haha). Plus, I’m generally not into repaints or minor retools of expensive figures either, so, my DX VF-1 needs are pretty much entirely covered by just that one figure. When I look at it that way, I kinda feel like I’m getting off cheap, lol...
I want a 1/32 one with ratchets all over and with a fully articulated pilot figure. Back in the day I thought of how fun that could be and actually to this day still think about it. Specific to Macross toys, I think ratchets are the way to go for shoulder/hip joints the bigger the toy is. Ball joints work for something as small as a HI METAL R toy, but not so much for bigger toys with heavier limbs.
Didn’t one of the manufactures show off a large(r) scale valk in the not-too-distant past? I seem to recall it being around 1/20 scale, though.
The 1st DX VF-1 Bandai showed at Tamashii Nations 2015 was 1/35. Anything larger that I’ve seen has been a non-transformable model kit.
Maybe it was just a model kit I was thinking of, then. I just seem to recall seeing pics of one that looked huge, relatively speaking.
you are probably thinking of these? PLAMAX MF-45 minimum factory VF-1 Fighter Valkyrie PLAMAX MF-37 minimum factory VF-1 Super/Strike Fighter Valkyrie PLAMAX MF-25: minimum factory VF-1 Super/Strike Gerwalk Valkyrie
I'll be down for 1/35 Perfect Grade VF-1 variant model kit if Bandai ever does one. The 1/72 kits were crappy and the proportions in battroid mode was whack.
Yeah, that looks like it! I just remember a pic of a guy holding what looked like a toddler-sized VF-1...haha.
